Lots of people want to start a business. But not everyone has what
it takes. The proportion of those who merely want to be entrepreneurs
will always be higher than that of the few who actually start a
business.
The simple reason is that not everyone is cut out for the rigours
of entrepreneurship. So, you may be thinking about starting a
business. But can you? Check out the following signs that you are not
cut out for the entrepreneurial life.
1. Following orders
The world is made of followers and leaders. Which one are you? If
you’re committed to being a comfortable order-taker the rest of your
life, perhaps entrepreneurship is not for you. If, on the other hand,
you feel a twitch of desire to make some decisions and give some orders
that may be the spark of entrepreneurship.
2. Someone else’s dream
Businessman, investor and philanthropist Farrah Gray wrote, “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs.”
Which do you prefer to do? You may be content to pour your life and
hard work into someone else’s dream. And that’s fine. Many people find
true fulfillment in this pursuit – fulfilling someone else’s dream.
Parents, for example, are motivated by a desire to help their children
achieve their dreams. Teachers give their lives to motivating and
prospering a generation of students. Nonprofits exist to rekindle dying
dreams. It’s not wrong to nurture someone else’s dream. But if you have
your own dreams, perhaps you should stop working to fulfill someone
else’s.
3. Don’t like hard work
Entrepreneurship is about hard work. It’s about facing indecision,
insecurity, instability and borderline insanity. There’s nothing really
pleasant about that. Ironic as it seems, there’s a certain satisfaction
in hard work. Humans are made for hard work, and hard work has its own
reward. It’s cliche to say “work smart, not hard.” But here’s the rude
reality: You must work smart and hard. Entrepreneurship isn’t a bag of
smart tricks. It is smart tricks combined with heart-pounding hard work.
If you’re not into the whole hard-work thing – rewarding as it is –
then the entrepreneurial life is not for you.
4. Get along with everyone
Take a quick survey of all your human relationships. Any
interpersonal problems? A breakup? A shouting match? An argument? None?
Then you’re probably not an entrepreneur. As it turns out, entrepreneurs
aren’t the wide-grinning, back-slapping, glad-handing socialites they
may seem to be. Entrepreneurs tend toward the outer fringe of social
behavior and cultural norms. According to a feature by Fortune magazine:
Want to find the future entrepreneurs in a room full of teenagers?
5. Entrepreneurship tendencies
Look for the boys who like to break a rule from time to time. This
makes sense when you realise that entrepreneurs are the ones who disrupt
industries, chafe against the status quo and spark a good revolution.
New research, by PsychCentral, has found a childhood pattern of
antisocial tendencies among entrepreneurs. So, if you’re sometimes
labeled as boring or rude, don’t sweat it. Instead, go do what you were
meant to do – start a business or two.
6. Everything is just fine
Pushing the pessimistic or optimistic dichotomy aside for just a
moment, how do you view the world around you? Is everything fine, or are
there a few things that could use improving? Your perspective is a
marker of your entrepreneurship tendencies.
Entrepreneurs see things that need fixing. They see trends that
need changing. They see a world that’s not yet perfect. Serial
entrepreneurs find new problems to fix because there’s a lot that needs
fixing in the world. Elon Musk was someone who wanted to fix the world.
He wasn’t content with online payment methods. That’s why he launched
PayPal. He wasn’t content with the slump of space exploration. He
started SpaceX. He saw a problem with the reliance on traditional
methods of energy. He started SolarCity, Tesla Energy, Hyperloop and
Tesla Motors.Look at the world. What do you see? No changes needed? If
that’s the case, you probably don’t see a pressing need to start a
business. But if you see problems that need solving, and solutions that
need inventing, consider entrepreneurship your calling.
7. Love mainstream
Entrepreneurship is counter-cultural, because contemporary society
tends to discourage risk taking. We conflate protection with progress.
The cultural “we” smiles approvingly at closed environments, safe
decisions, sound investments, risk-free assets and cups that don’t spill
hot coffee on us. Those are all fine things. But in moments of brutal
honesty, we realize that some of life’s risk is necessary and good.
The mainstream obsession with safety and security tends to denude
life of its natural and healthy risk. The person who floats contentedly
in the current of mainstream culture is, perhaps, not the choicest
person for entrepreneurial pursuits. Apple’s “Think Different”
commercials famously commented: Here’s to the crazy ones – the misfits,
the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the
ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they
have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with
them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is
ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race
forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the
world, are the ones who do. Those words inspire entrepreneurs. But the
not-so-entrepreneurial among us hardly warrant a second glance.
Conclusion
The beauty of these traits is that they are malleable.
Entrepreneurship is not a ‘you have it or you don’t’ proposition. You
can cultivate the qualities of entrepreneurship through sheer will,
patient habit and intense desire. Don’t let anything get in your way of
living out your dream. If you want it, you can be cut out for it.
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-Article Written By Yinka Kolawole/Vanguard
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